4:53 PM PT -- A rep for Gavin Newsom's political team tells TMZ ... "Governor Newsom did not do a "bulk buy" of $1.5M worth of books to boost sales. The book sales through his email list were individual sales done through a new, innovative approach that allows his list to receive copies of the book early. The campaign viewed the book offer as a major list-building and engagement opportunity – one of the largest of any campaign in the country."
The statement continues, "Supporters were invited to give whatever amount they could afford and still receive a copy of the book. The goal was participation and engagement, not fundraising. The campaign's list provided an opportunity for supporters to buy the book through a vendor consistently used by other authors. Each book was sold and sent out through the vendor, similar to buying from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. In total, more than 67,000 individual sales were made through the campaign's offers."
Want a copy of Gavin Newsom’s book? Turns out all it took was a donation -- and a PAC with deep pockets!
Here’s how it played out ... The New York Times reports Newsom’s political action committee shelled out more than $1.5M to scoop up copies of his memoir, "Young Man in a Hurry," and hand them out to supporters who chipped in -- any amount got you in the door.
And plenty of people took the bait. About 67,000 books were sent out through the donation deal -- accounting for roughly two-thirds of all print copies sold. Yeah … that bestseller run didn’t exactly happen the old-fashioned way.
The violent end of former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax'slife is reigniting scrutiny over the sexual assault allegations that rocked his career ... with one of his accuser’s attorneys speaking out after the apparent murder-suicide.
NancyErika Smith, who represented Meredith Watson -- the woman who came forward in 2019 accusing Fairfax of raping her when they were both students at Duke University around 2000 -- said her thoughts are with the couple’s children, who were reportedly home during the incident.
“First, this is horrific for their children who were home at the time of this event,” Smith said in a statement to the NYPost, before turning sharply critical.
Rep. Lauren Boebert is firing back at Dave Chappelle after the comedian blasted her for using a selfie they snapped together to "weaponize" his transgender jokes for political gain ... she says she was just keeping it real.
TMZ DC got the Congresswoman from Colorado on Capitol Hill and our intrepid producer Jacob asked her about Dave's recent comments taking aim at her and the rest of the GOP.
Boebert sounds like she's not feelin' the heat Dave is putting on Republicans ... indeed, the only one feeling any heat here is Jacob ... he's complaining about the lack of A/C in government buildings, and starts sweating bullets when a bunch of folks pile into an elevator with him and Boebert.
TMZ DC is getting all kinds of suggestions about our coverage, but none tops this very vocal recommendation hurled at our guy Jacob Wasserman ... four small words that packed serious punch, as he was reporting live.
You have to check out this video ... Jacob was in the shadow of Capitol Hill while chatting with Harvey and Charles on "TMZ Live," and a woman passing by decided to add her 2 cents when Jacob said he couldn't figure out where to start on describing his time in D.C.
That's when she shouted out, "Shut the f*** up. Why don't you start there?" she said.
Meghan Markle is claiming she's "the most trolled person in the entire world," but Ted Cruz begs to differ ... the Senator says that title belongs to Donald Trump.
TMZ DC got the Senator from Texas inside the bowels of Capitol Hill today and Charlie asked him about a recent quote from Prince Harry's wife that's going viral.
Ted starts by giving Meghan her flowers for her work in "Suits" -- sounds like the lawmaker was a big fan of the OG show -- but then he takes issue with her bold proclamation.
Rep. Brian Mast tells us one of the best things about his job is getting to talk to the nation's youth ... and he says the latest batch of students were more interested in asking him about his missing legs than the government.
TMZ DC got the Congressman from Florida on Capitol Hill, and Charlie asked him about a speech he'd just come from ... with Mast telling us he was getting more queries about his war injuries than usual.
You can see in our video why school-age children would pepper Rep. Mast with questions about something they don't see every day ... he has two prosthetic legs.
The Fairfax County Police Department tells TMZ ... Fairfax, 47, and his wife were found dead at their home in Annandale, VA from gunshot wounds, with her body found in the basement and his in the bedroom.
According to police, Fairfax shot his wife dead and then turned the gun on himself.
RFK Jr.’s keeping a tight, trash-can lid on his dead raccoon penis saga -- ’cause when TMZ DC went digging, his reaction was straight dumpster gold!
Check the clip -- TMZ put Trump’s Health and Human Services chief on the spot Thursday with the question no one else would touch ... what happened to that raccoon penis, and where’s it at now? RFK Jr.’s answer? Radio silence ... followed by a laugh doing all the talking.
You gotta see the video -- 'cause that wasn’t just any laugh ... it was a tail-end-of-the-truth kinda laugh ... like there’s a whole extra layer to this chopped-up critter story he’s keeping buried.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard reportedly has two of President Donald Trump's whistleblowers in her crosshairs ... and she's now getting the Justice Department involved in potentially prosecuting them for alleged crimes against DJT, according to a new report.
According to Fox News, Gabbard sent two criminal referrals to the DOJ -- one for a whistleblower who filed a complaint that led to Trump's impeachment in his first term. The other is for an ex-intelligence community inspector general who gave Congress a heads-up on the Trump accusations regarding a 2019 phone call he made as Commander-in-Chief to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In the referrals, Gabbard's general counsel wrote, "I want to refer information that may constitute possible criminal activity in violation of federal criminal law committed by one or more former employees of the intelligence community."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sounds like a bizarro Dr. Doolittle ... because he once chopped off a dead raccoon's penis.
President Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services has a new biography out, written by Isabel Vincent, containing a journal entry of him recalling a strange interaction with some roadkill.
In "RFK Jr.: The Fall and Rise," there's a passage from RFK Jr.'s journal that reads ... "I was standing in front of my parked car on I-684 cutting the penis out of a road killed raccoon, thinking about how weird some of my family members have turned out to be."
Yes ... RFK Jr.'s brother Douglas Kennedy and cousin Bobby Shriver are the family weirdos.
Luke Gulbranson is brushing off his reality TV past as he dives into politics ... saying voters in Minnesota aren’t checking his IMDb -- they’re checking their wallets.
The “Summer House” alum popped in to "TMZ Live" after he filed to run for Congress in Minnesota’s 8th District … and while plenty of folks recognize him, he says that’s not what matters on the ground.
Congressman Thomas Tiffany thinks threatening to send revenge porn is "not befitting" a member of Congress, but he's withholding judgment on one of his colleagues who is in the hot seat.
The Rep. from Wisconsin was walking toward the Capitol Tuesday whenCharlie spotted him. They shared something they had in common right off the bat -- they're both girl dads and love it! -- but then Charlie pivoted to the drama surrounding Florida Congressman Cory Mills.
Erika Kirk was supposed to join JD Vance as he headlined a Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia Tuesday ... but she backed out last minute after allegedly receiving "very serious threats."
Instead, TPUSA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet sat in for her, explaining to the VP -- and the audience -- why Charlie Kirk's widow didn't show.
Kolvet said ... "Mr. Vice President, I’m on stage here instead of our friend Erika Kirk because unfortunately she has received some very serious threats in her direction."
He added ... "It’s a terrible reflection on the state of reality and the state of the country."
Erika herself acknowledged her absence on X, saying she had been "looking forward" to the event ... but explained, "after all our family has been through, I take my security team’s recommendations extremely seriously."
Candace Owens, however, is not buying it. She accused Erika of backing out due to "bad ticket sales," telling her in a reply ... "Stop. This is exhausting."
Candace continued ... "People don’t believe you and don’t line up for you because you struggle to tell the truth about even the most basic facts. Where is the video of Charlie appointing you as CEO weeks before his death?"
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Candace argued the Secret Service wouldn't have allowed Vance to follow through with the event if there was "a viable threat."
She slammed Erika's "s*** Public Relations team" as the actual threat, saying they "operate under the delusion that they are smarter than the public."
To Candace's point ... there were tons of empty seats at the TPUSA tour stop.
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Multiple videos circulating social media show the arena mostly empty, allegedly just minutes before the VP was supposed to take the stage.
Don Lemon teasing a presidential run wasn't just a one-off moment to drive podcast views ... he thinks he's got a real chance at it -- reiterating to Sherri Shepherd he's entertaining the possibility.
The former CNN news anchor appeared on the actress' talk show this morning ... and she asked him about his recent interview on "Pod Save America" in which he said he might run and he could "run this country better than Donald Trump.”
Sherri is fully onboard with the idea ... telling Lemon he seems like a person she could totally imagine running for president -- and, he says "Why not?" ... as in "Why not him?"
Dave Chappelle is ripping Republicans for running on transgender issues by "doing a weaponized version" of his transgender jokes ... and he says he resents them for it.
The comedian laid into the GOP in a new interview with NPR, saying Republicans twisted his words to their benefit and made his transgender jokes a lot nastier than what they really were.
Dave gave "NPR Newsmakers" host Michel Martin an example ... recalling a visit to Capitol Hill where Congress members from both sides of the aisle were hounding him for photos. He says he didn't know how to "respectfully decline," so he took photos with everyone ... including GOP firebrand Lauren Boebert.
Rep. Nancy Mace announced a major loss in her family ... she took to social media to announce her father, Gen. James E. Mace, died Tuesday night.
The South Carolina congresswoman shared a lengthy tribute to her father, posting a pic of him in his military gear and describing his final moments in the caption.
Nancy said her dad was surrounded by his wife, two of his daughters -- Nancy and Mary -- and his two dogs.
The politician said her dad passed as she read him testimony of the soldiers he served with, writing ... "As I read those words to him, he grew calm. And then he was gone."
